diff --git a/block/block-backend.c b/block/block-backend.c
index a775a3dd2f..a4421252f8 100644
--- a/block/block-backend.c
+++ b/block/block-backend.c
@@ -1615,10 +1615,11 @@ static void send_qmp_error_event(BlockBackend *blk,
                                  bool is_read, int error)
 {
     IoOperationType optype;
+    BlockDriverState *bs = blk_bs(blk);
 
     optype = is_read ? IO_OPERATION_TYPE_READ : IO_OPERATION_TYPE_WRITE;
-    qapi_event_send_block_io_error(blk_name(blk),
-                                   bdrv_get_node_name(blk_bs(blk)), optype,
+    qapi_event_send_block_io_error(blk_name(blk), !!bs,
+                                   bs ? bdrv_get_node_name(bs) : NULL, optype,
                                    action, blk_iostatus_is_enabled(blk),
                                    error == ENOSPC, strerror(error),
                                    &error_abort);
diff --git a/qapi/block-core.json b/qapi/block-core.json
index 5c5921bfb7..00475f08d4 100644
--- a/qapi/block-core.json
+++ b/qapi/block-core.json
@@ -3676,7 +3676,8 @@
 #
 # @node-name: node name. Note that errors may be reported for the root node
 #             that is directly attached to a guest device rather than for the
-#             node where the error occurred. (Since: 2.8)
+#             node where the error occurred. The node name is not present if
+#             the drive is empty. (Since: 2.8)
 #
 # @operation: I/O operation
 #
@@ -3707,7 +3708,8 @@
 #
 ##
 { 'event': 'BLOCK_IO_ERROR',
-  'data': { 'device': 'str', 'node-name': 'str', 'operation': 'IoOperationType',
+  'data': { 'device': 'str', '*node-name': 'str',
+            'operation': 'IoOperationType',
             'action': 'BlockErrorAction', '*nospace': 'bool',
             'reason': 'str' } }